What's in a Name?
by Animus et Anima
Summary: Mulder is forced to go to a psych conference where he meets another man who decides to interfere with Mulder and Scully's relationship. But after Scully's reaction to his declaration at the end of Triangle, Mulder is a little more than hesitant.
1. Boring lectures

**I do not own anything or anyone in this story that you recognize. They all come from the brilliant mind of Chris Carter, played out by brilliant actors like Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, and produced by FOX. Any mistakes are my own. And as always reviews are welcomed if not encouraged... Okay they are very encouraged.**

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Worst week of the year. He knew it would be going in, but that did not help. He would not even come to these things, but since the FBI technically employed him to do psych profiles, they forced him to come to these awful things. Fucking psychological profiling conferences. And these things could not even be in places like Las Vegas or New York City; no, they were in places like Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And as much as Special Agent Fox Mulder like the idea of living in a small town, he would much rather be working on one of Kersh's boring cases with Scully. But there were some things that not even he could get out of, and this was unfortunately one of them.

Actually, he would not have minded coming to this as much if he could have dragged Scully, but there was no way Kersh or CSM (who apparently had Kersh in his pocket from what Scully had seen) would have let that happen. They knew the more Scully and him were together, the more powerful they were. Scully was his biggest strength and weakness. He had realized that he loved his partner a long time ago, but recently had been forced to accept that she did not share his feelings. So, he had been trying to ignore his love for her since she answered his "I love you" with "Oh, brother" last month, but so far all that had done was make his affection for her even stronger. He could not ignore how her hair fell perfectly every day, how her eyes lit up when she smiled or laughed, that smile she gave him when she was trying to hold back a laugh, how her ass had that perfect curve, and her breast- Mulder should not be thinking about this in a public place. If he kept this up, his excitement would quickly be visible to most of the conference, and he did not need that type of attention.

Of course, it was not his first conference and it probably would not be his last. But he had learned early on that most of the people here liked to evaluate their peers. And with a name like Fox in addition to his beliefs, Mulder was a prime target. Which is why a few of conferences ago he decided there was no way he was telling anyone at these conferences his real name. He had started using William Kuipers after he had been told for the fifth time how his sister's abduction played a part in his beliefs and other things that it would not take a college education to figure out.

Anyway, Mulder was currently waiting for the first seminar to begin with an empty seat on either side of him. It was not a very crowded seminar, but it was also a pretty small room in the hotel. Mulder was hoping that he could get by with the extra leg room, but he was not quite so lucky. About five minutes before the seminar was supposed to start, Mulder had a man ask him, "Is that seat next to you taken?"

Mulder had no choice but to shake his head. As the man sat down, Mulder tried to size him up. He was a man of five foot- nine with slightly broader shoulders than Mulder. He was not a body builder, but he was fit. His brown hair that was just a little longer than Mulder's. He had a rounder face and bluish green eyes. Mulder put him about thirty.

"You look excited to be here," the new guy said.

Mulder let out a half hearted laugh. "I wouldn't be here except for the fact it's mandatory to come to one of these every few years, and the last one I went to was about three years ago. Plus, I think my boss wanted me out of his hair for a week."

The other guy laughed. "You can't be that bad of an employee. Which agency are you with, anyway?"

"CIA." People tend not to ask too many questions when they think they are talking to a CIA agent, and for Mulder that was perfect. "What about you?"

"US Marshal."

The seminar speaker then stepped up to the podium and Mulder and his new companion went quiet. However, as predicted, Mulder quickly got bored of listening to the speaker. Actually, half way through the seminar, he could not even remember what he was there learn about. Luckily, he was saved by a notepad being past to him clandestinely by the man next to him.

_I dont think this guy could get more boring if he tried._ Mulder could not help but smile. At least he was not the only one trying to stay awake.

_I was seriously considering seeing how long it takes Dr. Whoever to notice people leaving. Not sure how much more of this I can take._ This time it was the marshal who smiled.

_After you, CIA. But I thought you CIA people would be used to these types of meetings._

_Yeah, well theyre usually a little more interesting than this. _Mulder knew it was not true, that he was usually just as bored when listening to someone drone on about rules and regulations. He had a tendency to ignore those anyway. Cases he was fine with, but not informational meetings.

_Guess secrets of the government would almost have to be._ Mulder looked at the man. It felt like this guy was in his head, which was a dangerous feeling.

_You trying to get me to spill the government secrets?_

_Ha! I know better than to try that! Plus, I got a family to support. I cant go dying because curiosity got the best of me._

Mulder made a mental note of the family comment before responding. _Good. I'd hate to shoot you._

Someone cleared their throat and both men looked up. Apparently the speaker had caught on that they were not paying attention and was becoming annoyed with them. Mulder was ready to continue without hesitation. He was used to pissing people off. But the marshal was not as willing. He scribbled one more note. _Bar later?_

Mulder nodded. He could not help but notice that the man looked like a guilty Catholic schoolboy caught by his nun teacher. This guy probably had such a school experience, too.

He could not deny that he liked the guy sitting next to him. He seemed like good guy. Mulder only then realized that he had not actually caught the man's name. Normally, he would have just asked, but he knew that they guy's conscience could take a hit; so he just waited for the seminar to end.

Once the boring speaker finally finished, Mulder stood up and was relieved to be able to stretch his legs. Apparently, this was not an issue for the marshal. Of course, Mulder had a good three inches on the guy, mostly coming for the legs.

"So, I saw a bar off the lobby. You want to head there?" the marshal asked.

"Anywhere as long they serve a good beer."


	2. My name is Will Kuipers Shit

**I don't own anything you recognize. It belongs to anyone I mentioned last chapter.**

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So, Mulder and his new friend went to the hotel bar. The marshal immediately started into some story as soon as he and the FBI agent were out of the seminar room. It started with the story of some psychotic witness and lasted through three more stories and the first two rounds of beer. His stories were good; they were not the X-Files by any stretch of the imagination, but as far as a normal government job, they were pretty exciting. And in between each story, Mulder would tell stories from his time in the VCU.

"Sounds like you got an interesting job," Mulder commented after a story of a hooker sent into witness protection that had a hard time letting go of her job and ended up in jail several times.

"It pays the bill, keeps food on the table. Can't say my wife particularly likes the hours, but it's a great job."

"You aren't passionate about your work?" Mulder would not have guessed that from the rate he was telling those stories.

"I love the job, but I went to college following in the footsteps of three older siblings: a lieutenant in the navy, a philosophy major who only went to college to subdue our parents, and then the doctor. I didn't want to fall my dad like my brother and go into the military, didn't like philosophy like my oldest sister and definitely not as wild, and wasn't into all that medical stuff. So, I took a few general classes and found my way into psychology. Next thing I knew, I was graduating with honors with a scholarship to graduate school. From there I ended up working as a marshal and using my background to help with escaped convicts. And now you've heard my general life story, please don't try to analyze me."

"Hey, no analyzing between friends. I don't even use my psych degree except when asked anymore." Most paranormal beings do not usually sit still long to be subject to a normal psych evaluation, and do not follow sit any preconceived notion.

"So, what do you do for the CIA exactly? You said the other stories were from before your current assignment. Or they a need-to-know-type thing?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He would have to be a little drunk to talk about the X-Files to a complete stranger. Not that bureau actually let him investigate those anymore.

"I've heard some pretty weird stuff. Between you and me, I think my sister's gone off the deep end with some of the stories I've heard from her work. Can't be worse than that."

Mulder decided that it was not his name and reputation, or even the FBI's. Plus, even if the marshal did track him back the FBI, it would be Spender he found. "I go and investigate different paranormal phenomenon around the world. You'd be surprised how many there are."

He did not lie. He willfully participated in a campaign of misinformation. He had investigated paranormal cases around the world. Russia and Antarctica were definitely not part of the America; therefore he had been international in his search for truth.

"You're pulling my leg aren't you?" his comrade asked.

"Nope." He finished his beer. "Hey, bartender, another beer!"

"Make it two!" the marshal called out. He then looked back at Mulder. "You don't happen to live in DC, do you?"

"Why?" Mulder asked suddenly. He hoped he had not stumbled onto someone with connections to Smoking Man or any of his friends. That would suck, because that would mean he would need to get some information from the marshal, and he liked the guy.

"Because it sounds like you believe in all the alien crap that I hear spouted out whenever I talk to my sister. She always talks about how there is evidence that the government is hiding from the people and conspiracies, and then there's an alien viruses and human experiments and stuff. Of course, right after one of her rants, my mom is trying to use my brother and me to set her up with one of our friends."

"So, you're setting her up with someone who is almost a complete stranger."

"You're here at a government psych convention, so you've got a good job, good sense of humor, seem nice enough. Maybe a little impatient, but aren't we all?"

"Maybe. But the philosopher?" he asked, as he took a sip of his new drink.

"No, Missy passed away a few years ago. Bastards never were brought to justice. Still bothers everyone in my family." Mulder just about choked on his drink. _If Missy's the philosopher major and dead, that means there's a doctor in DC who believes in aliens with a dead sister named Missy. Scully. Wait, calm down, Mulder_, he reminded himself. _It's probably just a coincidence._

"So, the doctor is a believer in extraterrestrials?" Mulder checked.

"Don't be so surprised. You've got a psych background and believe in them."

"Yeah, but… I wouldn't dream of trying to set my sister up on a date with a guy whose name I didn't know."

"Okay, then. What's your name then, CIA?"

Mulder had to hold back a groan. If this really was Scully's little brother, then he would know that he was not actually CIA and had lied if he gave his real name and then would have both her brothers hating his gut. If he gave his fake name and then met him through Scully, it would have the same result. His only hope was that this was not her brother. Or any relation to her, actually. "Will. Will Kuipers."

He was going to regret that. He knew the second the words were out of his mouth that he had made the wrong choice. Could he correct it and blame the alcohol? Not without making himself look like an idiot. Great, and he had hoped this brother would like him.

"Charlie Scully," he stuck his hand out to shake. And it Mulder now knew for sure he wanted to bang his head on the marble bar sitting in front of him. Only he could meet Scully's younger brother and manage to screw it up. "Now that introductions are out of the way, you live in DC, right?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. Why had he agreed to get a drink with this guy? Oh yeah, he seemed like a nice guy. And how could not he be with Scully as a sister? Well, there is Bill… "Wait, did you say your sister believed in the paranormal?"

"Yeah. Don't you? I just assumed that since you worked on them-"

"I do. I just… She believes in them. Enough to tell you," Mulder repeated. He knew she had started believing, but she always seemed bent on having a scientific reason. He never thought she would go as far as telling her family. Scully was full of surprises.

Charlie let out a laugh, "You're one weird guy, Will."

"You're the one who's sitting here even though I sound crazy."

"Well, it's better than the alternative of sitting in my room."

"You coming on to me, Charlie?" Mulder joked, causing a snort from his new friend.

"In your dreams, Will."

"No, it's your sister in my dreams." That might have come out as a joke, but Mulder was dead serious. Sometime between her abduction, her cancer and remission, Emily, and losing the X-Files, she had become the most important thing in his life, even more than Samantha. Because of this, Scully visited him often in his dreams. And if either of Scully's brothers knew what some of those entailed, Mulder was pretty sure that he would end up in a hospital.

Charlie just laughed at the assumed joke. He was about to respond when a ringtone went off. Charlie checked the caller ID. "Sorry, it's my mom."

"Go ahead." Mulder was not going to keep Mrs. Scully from talking to her youngest son. He already kept her youngest daughter too busy to spend a lot of time with her.

"Hey, Mom… Eh, it's pretty boring… Actually, I'm having a drink with another guy here at the conference… Yeah, I guess. Actually, I think he and Dana might be a good match." Mulder happened to have taken a sip of his beer at that moment and was forced for a second time to have to keep himself from spitting it out. Charlie was completely oblivious to Mulder's reaction, though he did notice when Mulder started using his hand to cut his own throat. "Hang on a second, Mom, I think Will's trying to tell me something."

"Why are you telling your mom about me?" Mulder pleaded quietly.

"I thought you wanted a date with my sister. Mom will make her go," Charlie said with a smile. Mulder just tried to imagine Mrs. Scully convincing her daughter out on a date, causing him to bury his head in his hand as Charlie continued his conversation with his mom. "I'm here… So, if I can get Will to agree, you'll get Dana to give him a chance? Because otherwise-… Great… Will Kuipers. We'll figure out a time and place… She's on her way over? Perfect time for you to tell her… Oh, they're doing fine. Heather and the kids are busy as usual. She wasn't particularly happy that I was being sent out this week, but I promised to be back in three days… Early, as always. Give her a hug for me and tell her about Will… Thanks, Mom… Love you, too. Bye."

Charlie closed the phone and saw Mulder's broken posture. He nudged Mulder with his bottle.

Mulder just groaned before saying, "You were serious about setting me up with Dana."

"Well, yeah. Why? You secretly married or something?" Charlie joked. But when Mulder did not laugh or deny it, he stopped laughing. "Wait, are you?"

"No, just one sorry son of a bitch," Mulder quoted. He was beginning to think Bill Scully might have been right.

"Will?"

"I think this where I tell you I lied about my name and what I do."

Charlie's relaxed posture became tense. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because telling people I'm 'Spooky' Fox Mulder of the FBI usually gets me analyzed pretty quickly. I stopped telling people who I was so I wouldn't have to hear the same things at every conference."

Scully's brother sat there for a second, just looking at Mulder, before he began laughing. When he finally calmed down enough to breath and talk, he asked, "So, you're the mysterious Fox Mulder I've been hearing about for years."

"The crazy, weird partner that Dana has to work with? That's me."

"Man, you've got a different reaction out everyone in my family. You're Dana's best friend, Mom is ready to adopt you for saving Dana's life so many times, Missy was ready to treat you like a wounded puppy, Bill wants you to stay as far away from Dana as humanly possible, and I'm sitting here trying to set you up on a date with her."

"Yeah, I know. It's the last one of those that worries me."

Charlie's merriment dissipated a little. "You don't like my sister like that."

Mulder laughed. How could he explain to Scully's brother that he was completely in love with her and that it was her who was not interested in him? How could he describe how much he wanted to take Scully into his arms and never let go? How so many of his dreams and nightmares circled around Scully, because she was what held him together most of the time? That the trust and friendship he had with Scully was more than he thought he would ever have with anybody, so he did not want to risk losing it by admitting his feelings for her? "If you knew how much I liked your sister like that, you would probably try to get her to put a restraining order on me."

Charlie's eyebrow rose, and Mulder quickly wondered if that was a genetic trait. "So, what? You're in love with my sister and haven't told her?"

"Pretty much," Mulder sighed. "Actually, I did, but she didn't believe me."

"She didn't believe you love her?" Charlie asked skeptically.

"I was pretty high on pain meds. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the guts to tell her."

"And so now I'm trying to set you up on a date with her. What's the problem with that?"

The FBI agent looked up at Charlie. "How well do you think she's going to handle being set up on a blind date with a guy you barely know that turns out to be her partner and best friend?"

"Better than a drunken psycho who convinces her to get a tattoo."

"Hopefully, she agrees with you." At the confused look given to him, Mulder continued, "She told me 'Oh, brother' when I told her I loved her. I don't think she returns the sentiment."

Charlie let out a snort. "Bullshit. I hear more about you than I do her. You guys go way past friends. I don't know about Mom, but Bill, Missy, and I have always just assumed you two were, well, you know." Charlie's face went red at the insinuation of Mulder and Scully having sex. Mulder could not blame him; he was sure if in his position, he would be having the same reaction. But Charlie cleared his throat before asking, "Why do you think Bill hates you so much?"

"Blames me for Melissa's death and Scully's, Dana's, cancer."

"Well, that too," Charlie relented. "But after that chip in her neck thing worked and he saw what you did for Emily, he's over the cancer thing, as much is possible for him, anyway. But also because he thinks you're using Dana to have a good time."

"Never. She deserves more than that. Don't let her know, but I've threatened more than one guy for looking at her the wrong way."

"She'll shoot you if she finds out."

Mulder took a sip of beer before announcing, "Wouldn't be the first time."

Charlie stared at Mulder again. "You're serious?"

He nodded. "She didn't tell you?"

"Nope. Remind me never to piss her off when she's packing."

"Sure, if you can figure out a way for getting me out of a date with her that doesn't involve admitting to her or your mom that I lied about my name. Or making her think I don't think she's attractive, or ruining our friendship."

Charlie opened his mouth, closed it, and then said, "Yeah, you're screwed."

Mulder put his head down on the bar again, and groaned.


	3. The Plan

**Okay, thank you everyone who is reading. And a special thanks to Ending Daley for reviewing. :) Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

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The next few days went by painfully slowly, but the nights flew by. Mulder and Charlie were becoming pretty good friends quickly. It helped that it turned out that they could easily swap stories about Scully. Charlie loved the one about Eddie van Blundht (though Mulder did leave out the part where he walked in on Scully ready to kiss him, afraid of fueling Charlie's idea of setting them up). And Mulder found out about how after one of their dates, Charlie and his girlfriend had walked in on his proper partner getting it on with her high school boyfriend, Marcus. There was no way that was not going to be alluded to eventually. But some of these stories were about the men's life. Mulder knew about Charlie's wife, Heather, and their two sons, John and Sam, and Mulder shared his stories of his childhood including about his sister's abduction, which Charlie took as well as his sister did six years prior.

On the final night, the men met at the bar again. Charlie came in a few minutes after Mulder. "So, my mom called. Dana and Will Kuipers have a date for two weeks from Thursday at 7:30 and to meet at Little Fountain Cafe."

"If I say 'I'm busy', do you think that she'd give up?"

"It's Dana. When has she ever given up on something?"

Mulder sighed, "That's what I thought."

"Always set up a date, and not show." It came out as a joke, but as soon as it was out in the open, the two men looked at each other. "You don't think…?"

Mulder thought about it for a minute. Could he let Scully hate Will Kuipers? She'd never know it was him. They could continue to have their relationship until Mulder got up the courage to tell her how he felt without the help of drugs. But at the same time, Mulder did not think he could intentionally hurt Scully in any way, including this.

"I couldn't. She'd be upset that some idiot stood her up. She hasn't had a date since Ed Jerse in Philadelphia," Mulder pointed out. He still had a pang of jealousy over that incident, but had learned that not everything was about him. That week, Scully had gone wild and almost gotten killed. Since then, she had not been on a date to his knowledge, spending a lot of time on the weekends with him or her mom (mostly him). He could not let her think she was going on a date, only to have her wait for no one.

"She wouldn't know it was you. Plus, you'd have the weekend to cheer her up as you, not Will. It's a perfect out, Mulder. And I barely know Will Kuipers, I thought he was a good guy," Charlie said the last sentence with feigned innocent.

"I don't know."

"You wanted a way out. This is it. Plus, if it gets you and Dana closer to actually admit to whatever it is you have, I'm for it."

"One problem with your plan, Charlie."

"Dana doesn't love you?" he asked mockingly. They had spent at least an hour overall fighting over this one point alone. Unfortunately for Mulder, the Scully family seemed to like to refute his theories.

"That and I'm not lying to her. We've got a relationship built on trust, and if she ever found out that I lied to her about this, it's all thrown out the window. Plus, I've caused her enough pain without getting into her personal life."

"You are her personal life," Charlie scoffed.

Mulder could not help the smile that briefly grazed his face. "Yeah, but that's just a happy chance. I don't stop her from having a life on purpose. If I happen to need her to come with me on cases across the country on a regular basis, that's just a job perk."

"Right… I'm not even going to touch that one, as a psychologist or her brother."

"Good, because we have an agreement not to analyze each other."

"Yeah, yeah. You realize that the only options you're leaving open are going on the date and telling her you aren't interested, right?"

"Well, going on the date will end up with at least one of us getting yelled at. Probably me, and it might be more than just yelling."

"Then I'll tell her that Kuipers ended up being a jerk who's obsessed with his work."

"It's a pretty accurate description."

"That's because it's exactly how Dana described you to everyone the first month you worked together. Actually, add in the word 'cute' somewhere in there, then it is."

"She said I was cute?" Mulder had not heard that before, maybe he did have a chance with Scully.

"Oh, for the love of God. Yes, my sister thinks you're cute or did six years ago. You do realize how weird it is for me to have to tell you this, right?"

He shrugged in response. "Sorry, but you're the first person who's willing to tell me."

"That's because I know something's going to happen between you. And I'm not going to stand around let you pussyfoot around each other. This is just the best way. I think you should take the date and tell Dana you love her when you aren't on pain meds."

"And I'm not going to risk our relationship. She doesn't love me."

"It doesn't matter how many times I tell you I think she does, you'll never believe me until she admits it."

"It's too much to risk otherwise."

"Ever think she might be thinking the same thing?"

"Yep. Until she rolled her eyes at me and said 'Oh, brother', I thought she did."

"Seriously, you've known Dana six years. She's not exactly an open book. It sounds like a defense mechanism to me."

"You're analyzing Scully now?"

Charlie let out a snort of laughter. "I have been since I was eighteen. Haven't you?"

"No, not really." Mulder could not bring himself to thoroughly analyze Scully. He only did that to the worst sickos the FBI gave him, like Duane Barry; he could not bring himself to put his Scully in any group with them. He had analyzed a couple of actions, like the trip to Philadelphia, but the day to day Scully he could never examine her.

"You've got more self-control than I do."

"Would you analyze Heather?"

"Probably not."

"How's that different than me and Scully?"

"Guess it's not… Does that mean you'll go on the date with her?"

"You're just as stubborn as her, you know that?" Mulder asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. "But no. You're going to tell her that Kuipers is an ass and so you told him to forget the date."

"Fine, next time I talk to Mom or Danes, I'll tell them."

"Thank you. So, you ready to head back to Wyoming?"

"Yeah, I guess. You ready to go back and face Dana?"

"Always."


	4. Sure Fine Whatever

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I meant to post it earlier, but real life got in the way. Sorry, it's a little shorter, too.**

**Disclaimer in previous chapters.**

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Two weeks past after the conference, and the only case that Mulder and Scully had investigated was one of erratic weather which ended up being connected to a meteorologist's hidden feelings for his best friend since high school who began lusting over Mulder after two days. Of course, Holman, the meteorologist, asked Mulder for dating advice. Scully got a great kick out of that one, because as she so willing pointed out, it had been a while since he had been on a date. Mulder knew he could be out dating. He just only wanted to date one woman who was not interested in him. Maybe he could relate to Holman, after all. But in the end, he and Scully ended up playing matchmakers for the two of them, and they were at least going to try being a couple. _Lucky bastard,_ Mulder thought. _He at least gets a chance with the woman he loves. Scully sees Shelia kissing me and barely reacts._ Holman had taken Mulder aside before the agents left for Washington, and told him that he would make sure he and Scully would be invited to the wedding as a couple. He would not listen to the fact that Mulder and Scully were not together.

But Holman was not the only one who kept bugging Mulder to talk to Scully about their relationship. Charlie had gotten a hold of Mulder's email and was sending him an email asking if he'd told Scully that he loved her yet. Of course, every time Mulder told him 'no' and to stop asking. Part of Mulder was afraid that Charlie would call Scully any day now and tell her, but since she had yet to say anything, he assumed Charlie was being a friend and keeping his mouth shut. He was thankful that Mr. and Mrs. Scully had taught all of their children to persevere their word. He was sure that if he waited too long, though, Charlie would tell his sister that Mulder had some feelings for her, but he would cross that bridge if he had to.

It was now Friday, and Mulder entered the office at seven and was the only agent there this earlier on a Friday morning. He liked it that way. He had brought coffee for himself and Scully from her favorite coffee shop since they had been stuck with nothing but paperwork all week without a single case. And seeing that Mulder found writing up reports even more tedious now their work was doing nothing but the grunt work of the FBI, he tended to take longer to write his up. He put his partner's coffee on her desk before sitting down at his own and beginning his day.

Not much to Mulder's surprise, Scully was the next in, ten minutes after him. Her face was neutral as she walked through into the bullpen, but her eyes were a little cloudy. Knowing her like he did, Mulder knew that she was extremely upset, whether it was anger or sadness, he had no idea.

"Morning, Scully," he greeted happily.

"Morning," she grumbled as she sat down at her desk. She saw the coffee he had bought her, and simply ignored it. She was not upset, she was simply pissed. If she was sad, she would simply drink the coffee quickly. She would use it as an excuse for not talking about her problem when Mulder asked. This just meant she was ready for a fight.

So, Mulder was left with two choices, get her fury out of the way before everyone got to the office or see if she would cool down during the day and then go over to her place tonight with food and some comedy movie.

"Not like coffee anymore?" he tried to joke.

"I like coffee. I just don't want it right now." Her voice was icy, but controlled. She did not want a fight here. Mulder took it as a sign to show up at her place with food that evening.

"Okay, well don't wait too long. It might get cold." Scully gave him a look that made him wince. Yeah, letting her cool off with the coffee was probably a good idea.

The rest of the day was very tense between the two agents. Scully had tossed the full coffee cup an hour after she came in, and did not mention the fact that the coffee was from her favorite coffee place. She always at least commented on his effort. Mulder would make an occasional comment or joke to gauge how her mood was fairing. It seemed to get impossibly worse. Her answers became shorter and shorter, and her tone colder and colder. Whatever had caused her anger was no longer who or what she was aiming it at, Mulder was the new target. He debated if she menstruating, but knew asking her would just make things worse. Plus, he had her scheduled for two weeks from now, so it was an unlikely cause.

Finally, as five o'clock approached, a few of the other agents in the bullpen began to leave for the weekend. He figured it was probably safe to mention that he might stop by that night, because with the mood Scully was in, she might shoot him if he showed up unannounced. "So, Scully, got any exciting plans for tonight?"

"No."

"Wanna me to bring over a movie and some Thai tonight? Celebrate the end of the week," he gave his most charming smile.

"Sure, if you aren't too busy," she bitterly told him.

"What? Of course not. You know me, Scully. I don't have a social life."

"Sure. Fine. Whatever." With that, she turned off her computer and grabbed her coat to leave.

Meanwhile, Mulder realized just how mad she was. They only reason they ever used those three words was when they were absolutely pissed, or jokingly mad. But this was clearly not a joke. She was beyond furious and now Mulder was going to go try to ease her anger. If he did not succeed, then he was a dead man walking. The only question now was: why was she so mad?

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**If you're looking for another good X-Files story check out some of EndingDaley's works. She got two good ones up right now. :)**


	5. Depending on How You Look at It

**So, originally I was going to wait a few days before posting, but the reviews you sent me inspired me to go ahead. So here it is. You guys are amazing for reading and reviewing. :)**

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Mulder left a few minutes after Scully. He went by his apartment and changed into a grey sweater and black jeans and traded his trench coat for his leather jacket. He stopped by her favorite Thai place which conveniently happened to be next to a floral shop. He went in to pick up some daisies, which he was pretty sure represented friendship, and came out with stargazer lilies.

He arrived at her apartment about an hour and half after she had left work, food and flowers in hand. If this did not cheer her up at least a little, then he was at a lost. He stepped off the elevator and ran straight into somebody. He dropped the bag of food and immediately bent down to pick it up while telling the stranger, "I'm sorry."

And then he noticed the legs. They were firm and smooth, and pretty much in every teenage boy's wet dream, except for maybe in length. He slowly followed them until he reached the hem of a black dress, which was at mid-thigh. He slowly took in her curves as his eyes continued upwards, before they fell on her breast. Mulder would proudly admit that he was more of a boob man than an ass man (though, there were a couple of people who though he was an ass), and these were some of the best he had seen. They were not huge or anything, but proportional to the rest of the body, and in his humble opinion, beautiful. He quickly slid his eyes up until he reached just below her neck where a small crucifix hung. One that he knew all too well. He suddenly looked towards the face of the woman and saw his partner's sea blue eyes staring back at him. They were brighter than usual, probably due to some mystery make-up technique that all women knew. Her already ruby lips were several shades darker, and her hair framed her face. From Mulder's squatting position, the hallway light was directly behind her head, making her look even more radiant. And a lot his blood flow was automatically directed to the lower half of his body.

"Sc-Scully?" He honestly could not believe his partner looked this sexy. He knew that she had given him a hard-on with what she wore to work more times than he cared to admit. And this was so much better, or worse depending on how he looked at this.

"Damn it, you weren't supposed to be here yet."

Mulder's brow instantly furrowed. He had been so interested in what his partner was wearing he had not even considered why she was dressed as she was and headed towards the elevator. "I told you I was going to bring by a movie and dinner," he said holding up the food and video in one hand. "And next to the Thai place there was a flower shop, so I bought these."

He handed her the flowers, but she did not take them. She simply looked at the lilies, then back at him. Confusion and anger was written on her face. Then she said one sentence that floored him. "I don't want them."

"You don't want flowers? I thought every woman wanted flowers."

Scully rolled her eyes before answering him. "Thanks for the generalization, Mulder. But I'm going out tonight."

"Out?" he echoed back. He realized that other men would see his Scully in that dress which all of the sudden seemed way too short for public. "What about our movie night."

"I never agreed to it. You invited yourself over. Now if you'll excuse me," she told him trying to get past him, but he caught her arm with the hand holding the flowers.

"No. Scully, you've been mad at me, the world, I don't know who, all day. Going out to get your frustrations out is a bad idea. Last time you did that, you ended up in the hospital. Look, use me to vent or whatever, but you clearly need to talk about this."

"You want me to vent?" she asked carefully with the same tone she had been using all day in the office. It scared Mulder a bit, but he nodded. "Fine, let's go to my apartment."

She turned in her heels and hastily made her way back to her door. She unlocked her door and swung the door open and entered. Mulder followed behind her, not knowing exactly what was about to happen. Scully immediately slipped off her heels and turned to him. He put the food, movie, and flowers on the table. Scully stood between her table and television, waiting for Mulder to say something.

He finally did. "Okay, something has obviously pissed you off, why don't you tell me what it is."

She stared at him with an incredulous look plastered on her face. After a second, she answered him in a tone he had not heard since Comity. "I got stood up last night, okay? Is that what you wanted to here?"

"I'm so sorry, Scully." He really was. He knew that she kept her walls up most of the time. And it sounded like this guy had gotten through them and then hurt her. Mulder quickly wondered if he could get a name out of her and track the man down and cause him as much pain as he did Scully.

"I should have known it would happen. That it was too good to be true. I just thought… Screw what I thought. The point is that I trusted… _him_, and _he_ didn't even bother cancelling."

"Maybe something came up," Mulder tried to help. Sure, he did not want her dating another guy, but he would rather come up with excuses for this punk than have her hurt. He would deal with this jerk later and make him sorry for this.

"_He_ could have called. _He_ has my number."

"Maybe he lost it?"

"The day _he_ loses my number is the day Spender stops being a weasel." Okay, that probably was never going happen.

"Did you call and ask?"

"No," she answered with venom.

"You should start there." Mulder was proud of himself for keeping a level head with this one.

"I don't want to." Mulder sighed. She was not making this easy.

"Scully, trust me, I know you're stubborn. But you'll feel better once you get a reason." He picked up her landline and handed it to her.

She gritted her teeth, but dialed a number. Suddenly, Mulder's phone went off. He looked at Scully suspiciously, be she gave no sign that it was her. So, he went to answer it, keeping eye contact with her the entire time.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Will Kuipers, this is Dana Scully. I think we were supposed to have dinner last night, but you never showed up. Have a good reason now?"

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**Does that answer everybody's questions about why she was mad? ;)**


	6. Let me explain?

**So, I went to work on a possible sequel for this today and realized that I still had 2 more chapters to post. Sorry this wasn't up sooner. This chapter is a bit longer though, if that makes up for it at all. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. :)**

**Disclaimers earlier in the story.**

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Mulder stared at Scully for a second. How did he get into this situation? Charlie was supposed to say he was busy and a jerk, not tell Scully who h? But I thought- I mean-"

Scully's shoulders sagged a little. "Look, you didn't want to go le really was and that he would meet her! Why did Charlie not give him a warning? He now had to explain the situation to Scully. How was he supposed to tell her that he had thought date was already cancelled because he did not think she would stay when she saw it was him? Apparently, she not only had decided to go, but had known it was him going in.

When he did not say or do anything, she ended the call and threw the phone on the couch. "Damn it, Mulder. Now that you know why I've been pissed at you all day, can you leave and let me go vent my frustrations?"

Her yelling brought Mulder back to reality. Well, kind of. "We had a date yesterdayast night. I'm a big girl. I can handle it. But I'd like to have tonight, to make up for the one I lost last night. So, I'm going out. Just… lock up when you leave."

She began to walk towards the door. In the five seconds it took for Scully to cross the room, Mulder realized that if she left, he would lose her. And if he lost her now, then it would take another six years before he had another chance, if he was lucky. So, when she was right next to him and he did the only thing he could think of to stop her from leaving. He grabbed her passing wrist and pulled it back, bringing Scully along with it. When she was close enough to him, he put his other hand on her neck and leaned down. He forced his lips on hers and began to turn her to back her into the wall. Scully fought it for the first second and then melted into him. He used the wall to prop Scully up, and continued his assault on her lips. Eventually, his lips nudged hers open and his tongue slid inside her mouth. He felt a moan ripple through her and he suddenly realized that Scully was kissing him back. This was not just him forcing himself on Scully; she was a willing participant.

After a few minutes, when both were out of breath, Mulder pulled back and leaned his forehead onto hers. The only sound in the room was their hard breathing. Once, he caught his breath, he whispered, "Will you let me explain, Scully? Please?"

She nodded, so he took her hand and led her over to the couch. He sat down and pulled her down so she was sitting next to him. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. "Okay, yes, I told your brother that my name was Will Kuipers. Yes, Charlie told your mom to try to set us up on a date. The moment I heard that, I tried to tell him not to, but he didn't listen to me. As soon as he hung up with your mom, I told him the truth. We spent next three days trying to figure out how to get me out of the date." At the confusion and hurt in Scully's eyes, Mulder continued, "Not because I didn't want to (God, I wanted to), but because I thought you would feel set up or that it was a joke. I couldn't even begin to imagine a world where you willing went to dinner with me as anything but a friend. On the third day, I told Charlie to tell you or your mom that Kuipers was an obsessed workaholic who was a jerk that you were too good for. He said he would, so I didn't give it another thought. If I had known he didn't, I would have been there. I would never have stood you up. I couldn't do that to you."

"So, you wanted to cancel the date, because you thought I feel set up?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he smiled, looking down at her.

"And Charlie knew a majority of the time that you were my partner?" she asked in the same tone.

"Yeah. Wait, he isn't the one who told you?" Mulder had just assumed that Charlie had been the one to tell her he was Will Kuipers.

"No, I haven't talked to Charlie since you two met at the conference. I think he and Mom talked to set up our date, but that's it."

"Then how did you know that I was Will Kuipers?"

Scully rolled her eyes, "You told me, Mulder."

Mulder quickly reviewed his photographic memory from the past few months. But he would swear that he had not mentioned his alias to Scully. He wondered if he had said something about it when he was asleep on a trip. "When?"

"Before the last conference you went to a few years ago. You were telling me how well it worked."

"Really?" Now that she said that, Mulder did kind of remember that conversation. He also recalled mentioning that he was going to probably use it at every conference.

"Really. Honestly, I thought you told Charlie you were Kuipers to keep him from treating you like Bill does or something."

"No, I wanted to get off on the right foot with this brother. I told him my real name; it was just after he decided that I would be a good match for his sister who is a doctor who believes in the paranormal."

Scully rolled her eyes. "You act like you didn't already know that."

"I just didn't know you would tell people you did."

"Well, when it does get brought up on occasion at home, I tell my family about what I've seen. It's not a big deal, Mulder."

Mulder let out a small snort. "You didn't accept you held proof of alien in your hands for years. It's a big deal."

"Almost as big of a deal as you and my brother trying to find a way to get you out of a date with me," she reminded him.

He ran a hand through his hair. "What do you want me to say? I already told you why."

"Why not just tell me the situation? It's not like I wouldn't have understood." She said it as though it was the most logical answer in the world. And maybe it would have been, if there was no chance of Mulder's heart being even more crushed in the process.

"Because I didn't want you to think I had changed my mind," he half laughed.

Scully immediately sat straight up, and looked him directly in the eye. "Change your mind about what?"

Mulder's gaze instantly locked with hers. He at first thought she was kidding, but the confusion written on her face told him otherwise. "You really don't know?"

"No, I really don't."

He could not believe it. How could she forget? He told her he loved her and two months later she does not remember. He remembered every girl who had ever told him she loved him (true, that was a very short list); how could Scully not remember her best friend saying it? Even if she did not believe him.

Apparently, he was lost in his head a little too long, because Scully repeated the question. "What didn't you change your mind about?"

Mulder really did not want to have his heart break a little bit again, but knew that Scully would not leave him alone until he answered. "Promise me it won't ruin our relationship?"

"You're scaring me, Mulder. What is it?"

"Promise me." He was not going to go into this without a guarantee that she would not run. He was not going to hurt their friendship if he could help it.

"Fine, I promise. But-"

"I love you."

The words hung in the air. To Mulder, they seemed to bounce of ever wall, table, and cushion in the room. Every moment passed slowly as he watched her beautiful blue eyes widened in shock and she let out a small gasp. She did not respond any other way though. And with each second, he began to fear that they might not be able to keep their friendship intact. Hell, she was probably trying to figure out a way to tell him that she did not feel the same way, and now wanted a transfer out of the X-Files.

So, when it felt like an hour had gone by, even if it really was only about thirty seconds, Mulder began to speak again. "I know that you probably don't feel the same way, and that's fine. Nothing has to change between us. Just don't do anything right away, and I can show you that nothing has to change-"

"Mulder, shut up," she commanded him. And like the obedient soldier he usually was not, he did. She took a deep breath before continuing, "Have you taken any medication recently?"

"What?" Mulder was not expecting that question. Maybe a rant about how this would mess up their partnership or something, but not if he was on any new meds.

"Any new medication?" she repeated.

"No. You're the only doctor I ever see unless I'm stuck in a hospital."

"Did you have any alcohol before coming over?"

"No! I'm completely sober, Scully! Why are you asking me?"

Instead of answering his question though, she looked down at her shoes and began to mutter, "You weren't just high on pain meds. Oh, God, you meant it."

He was not sure if he was actually supposed to hear that or not, but he realized that she at least now knew when he said he loved her before. He put his index finger under her chin and tilted her head up so he could look into her eyes."Yes, and I'll mean it every time you let me say it."

When she did or said nothing but hold his gaze, Mulder did the only thing he could think of. He placed a simple, chaste kiss on her lips. However, before he could pull away, Scully's hand was on the back of his neck keeping him closer. So, the sweet kiss continued to be mostly innocent, until she opened her mouth invitingly.

They sat there for a while with their tongues dueling. Eventually, Mulder pulled away from her lips and moved onto her neck, just placing soft kisses up and down it. At least, until he stumbled the sensitive spot about an inch under her left ear, and then he sent a lot of time right there, listening to her groan in pleasure. And with each moan she released, he became a little harder just from the knowledge that he was doing this to her. And eventually, Mulder's mind turned completely off. He did not even notice that he had his partner on her back and was on top of her until she panted, "Oh, God, Mulder, we can't do this."

That one phrase brought Mulder's pleasurable high crashing back down. He immediate stopped sucking on her neck and pulled himself off her body. He looked down at her and immediately felt himself go even harder than he already was; he had to stifle a moan. He had thought she looked sexy as hell before hand, but now her hair was tousled and her lips were swollen. He eyes popped open to reveal deep blue eyes darker than Mulder had ever seen as he moved off her and he felt her take a deep breath.

"Why not, Scully?"

"Where do you want me to start? Kersh will fire us, Cancerman will use it against us, and Bill will kill you."

Mulder sighed. Here was the rant he expected earlier. Luckily though, these were the reasons he had been trying to move on since she came back from her abduction, why it had taken him four years to tell her. Fortunately, it meant he had spent countless nights figuring out ways around them. "We keep it professional at work. Kersh won't ever find out until we want him to. And Bill already hates me, so I don't think this will be his be anything new. If anything, it might help with him."

"And Cancerman? He and his goons are always looking for ways to stop us."

Mulder shook his head in amazement. "They've already done their worst. Scully, they kidnapped you for four weeks and returned you on the brink of death. I almost lost it… If you had died I would have probably shot Cancerman one day in Skinner's office and then offed myself-"

"Mulder!" Scully's eyes were wide with horror and Mulder was sure he saw some tears beginning to fill her eyes.

"It's the truth. I told you that night in the hallway that you completed me; I wasn't just talking about the X-Files, Scully. I was talking about me as a person! Without you, I am nothing."

"And the moment we start a relationship, they'll use that against you. Against us."

He shook his head again. "No, because now if anything happens to you, I don't care whose fault it is, I will make them pay. And if that smoking bastard is the one to blame then I'll work that much harder at exposing the Truth. They take you away from me now, Scully, and I will fight until I'm dead to make them suffer."

"You're exaggerating." It was a statement; one that she really wanted to believe.

"No, I'm not. I would do anything for you, and if that means killing the shadows in our government, I won't give it a second thought."

"Mulder," she sighed. It was partly out of worry, partly out of surprise. But it still was important that he continued.

"The only way this won't happen is if you tell me you don't want it to. I've been keeping it bottled up since your abduction. I've been through all the reasons why we shouldn't do this. Hell, you would be better staying as far away from me as possible, but I can't let that happen, because I need you too much."

He stared at her intently, letting her make the next move. He watched as she silently debated what a relationship would mean for them. As she decided their fate. He knew that this decision of hers would be the most important of his life. He told her things could go back to the way things were if that's what she wanted, but could he really? Yes, he would try, but eventually this was bound to create more problems in their relationship.

Finally, she spoke. "Okay."

Mulder waited two heartbeats before asking, "Okay, what?"

Instead of answering verbally, she leaned up and kissed him quickly on the lips. He could not help but smile like a fool until she pulled away. But before he could question her actions, she began to speak. "Okay to this. To us. But, Mulder, I don't want to rush into things. I want to take things slow."

"I can do a lot of things slow."

Scully rolled her eyes at the innuendo. "No sex tonight, Mulder. Punishment for standing me up on our date last night."

He was about ready to complain when he realized something. "Does that mean we can do other stuff?"

"Only if you're good," she answered playfully. "In the meantime, I'm going to go change out of this outfit. Will you put in a movie?"

"I'll do anything you want, if you don't put anything back on." That earned him a pillow slap to the head and a giggle.

"Remember what I said about being good?" she questioned as she rolled out from under him.

"When do I ever listen?"

"Never. That's why I was assigned to the X-Files."

"See it can be a good thing," he grinned.

She returned the smile with a complementary eye roll before heading back into her bedroom. She was almost to her room, when she stopped and called out Mulder's name. When he turned to look at her, she said four words that made Mulder become speechless and unable to move a single muscle in his body. "I love you, too."

Mulder watched as she went into her room and pushed the door shut, but did not move. Especially when he noticed that Scully had accidentally left her door open a crack and from the angle he was at, Mulder could see her changing. It might be perverted, but he could not take his eyes away from the opening. The world around him shrank down to nothing, except for him and the illicit sight in front of him.

At least, until Scully's voice echoed through the house. "Mulder, can you get the phone for me?"

He did not know how long he had been standing there ogling, but he suddenly snapped out of it and heard her landline ringing. He quickly walked over to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" Mulder's voice was husky and sounded very deep, all the product of the view of his lovely partner he had just been given.

"_Hi, is Dana there?"_ another man's voice asked back immediately.


	7. He Said What?

_"Hi, is Dana there?" another man's voice asked back immediately._

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Suddenly, Mulder's state of arousal turned into rage. "Who's asking?" he growled. Why the hell was another man asking for Scully? His Scully. Then Mulder remembered what he had caught her leaving the house looking like. He had assumed she was just going out to get a drink, but what if she had already made plans with some guy?

"_It doesn't matter. Is she there?"_

"She's busy, can I take a message?"

"_Tell her Will Kuipers is calling."_ Mulder began to smile. It was not some bar date; it was Charlie.

"The piece of shit that stood her up last night? Trust me, she doesn't want to talk to him."

"_Listen, I don't know who you are, but Dana's already taken. So you might as well move on."_

"My name's Marty. She's taken?" Mulder asked in disbelief. The only person who Scully could be taken by was him, right? Charlie would have told him if there was somebody else. But based off that kiss, he was the only guy in the picture.

"_Yeah, and the guy who's in love with her has a gun and isn't afraid to use it, so I'd back off."_

"You won't shoot me," Mulder laughed. As much as Charlie might hurt him for this later, he doubted that the marshal would go as far as shooting.

"_No, but her partner will."_

"Not anytime soon." If Scully was going to give them a shot, Mulder would do everything possible to keep himself from getting shot or hospitalized.

"_The moment you hurt her, he will. Listen, he's a good guy, but nuts. His nickname at the FBI is 'Spooky'. Does that sound like somebody you want to mess with?"_

Mulder held back a laugh. He was curious how far Charlie was willing to take this. He had to admit though, it was nice having Charlie on his and Scully's side. Hopefully, that would not change after this. "I know about Spooky Mulder. Thinks aliens kidnapped his sister when he was a kid. What's that matter to you, Will? You had a chance to go on a date with her."

He listened as Scully's younger brother tried to think of some way to explain the situation. _"Listen, just let me talk to her. I need to explain something to her before she makes a huge mistake."_

"Are you calling me a mistake?" He asked with mock anger. It was that moment Scully entered the room wearing jeans, a blue V-neck t-shirt, and a skeptic eyebrow. Mulder gave her a smile.

"_Yeah, I am. Now let me talk to her."_

"Fine, she just came back into the room."

Mulder handed her the phone as she asked, "Who is it?"

"Will Kuipers."

Her brow furrowed a little. "What?" Mulder nodded as she brought the phone up to her ear. "Hello?... Charlie?... I'm sorry, but how is my love life your business? Last time I checked, you only set me up because Mom asked you to… Marty?... He said is name was what?" Scully turned to glare at Mulder as Charlie told her something. "Oh, trust me, I know his name... Really? You don't like Marty? Well, Will Kuipers didn't show last night… Mmh, you told Kuipers not to bother showing up because he was an arrogant, self-centered son of a bitch… You didn't think I could make up my own mind?... So you let me go to the restaurant to be stood up?... Well, I can make my own decisions. And part of that is who I let spend the night." Mulder's ears perked up at that. He was spending the night? That was not what it sounded like earlier. Mulder should let Scully and Charlie talk more. "You're going to tell Mom on me? What are you seven? We're adults, Charles. Plus, Mom would probably be happy to hear he's staying the night… Yes, or did you forget she's trying to get me to settle down?... Trust me, this isn't a one night stand… I trust him… I changed my mind… Mulder will take it just fine that I'm dating him…From what _I've_ told you?... I already have. Actually, he's the one who started the conversation… Charlie, stop calling him Marty. He's only gone by that a handful time… Mostly when he's doing something he's not supposed to… I don't know; let me ask. How many times have you broken the law?" The last sentence was aimed at Mulder.

"Since we started working together or overall?"

"Either."

"I dunno. I stopped keeping tract a long time ago."

Scully rolled her eyes as she went back to the conversation with her brother. "He doesn't know. Too many times to count… So, you don't want me to date him because he's a criminal?... Go ahead and tell Bill; he already hates him… He blames him for Missy's death, my cancer-"

"Don't forget Bill thinks I'm already sleeping with you," Mulder threw in. Scully's face became one of utter shock.

"He thinks what?"

Mulder stood up and took the phone out of Scully's hand. "Charlie, you never told her about your theory that we were sleeping together?"

"_What the hell is going on? Is this still Marty?"_

"Only one of my names. You're sister got stood up by Will Kuipers, an alias which I forgot I told her before the last conference."

"_Mulder?"_

"Yeah?"

"_You're an asshole!" _Charlie half laughed. _"You let me go on about how Dana's partner would shoot you and made me think you were someone else?"_

"Yeah, basically. Good to know you're backing us though."

"Mulder, give me that!" Scully ordered as she snatched it from him. "Charlie…Well, that's what you get for not telling me my date was cancelled for last night… Oh Mulder got the cold shoulder all day at work and yelled at tonight… No, I was serious about that… Because you were apparently supposed to cancel the date, and he didn't know I was at the restaurant… Charlie! _That_ is definitely not any of your business!... No! Not yet!" Mulder was very amused at the color crimson his partner was turning. "Well, yes, but- wait, why am I telling you this? You're my baby brother! You shouldn't know stuff like this!... You know what, bite me… Yeah, yeah. Look, I've got to go. Mulder brought dinner and movie. I'll talk to you soon… I know… Oh, God. Either way one of us is going to get yelled out for not telling her. Whoever talks to her first, okay?... Figures. Just try to get her to hold off until tomorrow… Sorry, you said you could handle it… Okay, bye."

Scully put up the phone before turning to Mulder. "You told my brother your name was Marty?"

"He told me his was Will Kuipers. It didn't leave me with much of an option."

"Because you wanted him to think I brought home some random guy?"

"Hey, I said I knew who 'Spooky' Mulder was. I knew he would assume I was FBI, so at least we work together."

"That's not helping your case."

"Maybe not, but it was still entertaining. You can't deny that."

Scully answered with a glare.

"So, movie and dinner?" Mulder tried, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. He honestly could not believe she was letting him hold her so intimately, but was not going to say anything.

The glare disappeared into a smile as her arms went around his neck. She leaned up and gave a simple kiss on his lips, but would not deepen it. "Sure."

A few minutes later, they settled onto her couch, both with plates full of Thai food in their laps. Mulder had his left arm around Scully's shoulder and she was resting against his chest with her legs pulled up beside her. Mulder gave her a kiss on her temple before starting the movie. If this is what he could start looking forward to on the weekends for the rest of his life, then that was fine with him.

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**Okay, my author's note is down here. Hopefully you all liked the story. There may or may not be a sequel following this. It's in the works right now. (It will probably be called _Family History_, but I'm not positive.)**


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